LHS volleyball season comes to an end

The stakes were high for the Luverne Cardinal volleyball squad headed to Jackson on Thursday, Nov. 4.
The No. 1 and 2 seeds in the South Big South 3AA subsection final, the Cardinals faced off against the rival Huskies of Jackson County Central.
Having lost in four sets to them earlier in the year, the Cardinals knew they needed to play a solid match to advance their season.
Despite an early 5-3 lead after several attacks from senior Elise Ferrell, the Cardinals couldn’t keep up the pace with the Huskies, trailing behind after a series of errors at the net. 
Ferrell and Anja Jarchow teamed up for a block on the right side to position themselves a few points behind at 14-17. 
Luverne maintained the point differential at 16-19 with a joint block by Kamryn VanBatavia and Christina Wagner. However, the Huskies extended their lead after a series of service errors by Luverne to take Set 1 at 25-18.
Set 2 kept the squads knotted at three points apiece when VanBatavia passed the ball to Trista Baustian to set up Ferrell for a kill on the outside. 
After several long rallies between the two squads, Jackson pressed ahead to a 16-10 lead despite several kills and an ace from Wagner.  Back-to-back kills by Ferrell off a pass from Carly Olson and sets from Reghan Bork closed the lead to 17-12. 
Luverne finished the set with two solo blocks and three kills from Wagner on a 10-8 run, but the Cardinals could not battle back from the hole they’d dug early in the set, finishing behind Jackson at 20-25.
The Luverne squad came out energized for Set 3 with Bork dropping a ball in the opponents’ court off a set from VanBatavia. 
The Cardinals rattled off four consecutive points with passes by Macy Stratton, sets by Bork and kills by Ferrell and Wagner.
A duo block by VanBatavia and Wagner along with an ace by Ferrell helped extend the lead to 6-4. 
Jackson struggled to find its groove, and with Luverne hungry to nab a set, they found the floor on the Jackson side with kills by Ferrell and Wagner for a 16-10 lead. 
The Huskies saw the fire on the Cardinal side and quickly put it out as they went on a 9-2 run to take the lead at 19-17. 
Powerful hitting from the home team overtook the Cardinals despite a decisive kill by Ferrell at 22-24.  A blocking error capped the match for the Jackson win at 25-22. 
The Cardinals finished the season with a 19-7 record.  The Huskies went on to beat Paynesville for the Section 3AA title, punching their card for the state tournament in St. Paul.
 
Statistics:
Serves: Elise Ferrell – 2 aces; Macy Stratton — 100% serving percentage
Blocks: Christina Wagner – 3 set assists, 1 solo
Digs: Macy Stratton – 10
Set Assists: Trista Baustian – 10; Reghan Bork – 12
Kills: Trista Baustian – 4; Christina Wager – 6; Elise Ferrell - 11